Title: Decision making technique for analysing performance of Malaysian secondary ports

Authors: Noorul Shaiful Fitri Abdul Rahman; Alisha Ismail; Mohammad Khairuddin Othman; Rabiatul Adawiyah Mohd Roslin; Y.H. Venus Lun

Addresses: Department of Maritime Management, School of Maritime Business and Management, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Malaysia ' Department of International Business, School of International Studies, COLGIS, Universiti Utara Malaysia, Malaysia ' Department of Maritime Management, School of Maritime Business and Management, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Malaysia ' Department of Maritime Management, School of Maritime Business and Management, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Malaysia ' Shipping Research Centre, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong

Abstract: This paper aims to study the performance of the secondary ports in the East Coast Economic Region (ECER) of Malaysia by analysing the selected criteria and sub-criteria involved. A total of 12 respondents were selected as the sample for the study and the data were analysed using a decision-making method that incorporated an analytical hierarchy process, fuzzy-link based approach and evidential reasoning. To analyse the performance of the secondary ports, five criteria were considered, which include: 1) operational; 2) physical; 3) shipping demand; 4) financial and 5) manpower performances. To realise this performance benchmarking, two secondary ports that were positioned on the ECER, namely, the Kemaman Port (Kemaman Supply Base) and Kertih Port were used as the case studies. The findings of this study showed that the operational and physical performances played a significant role in contributing to benchmark the performance of the secondary ports.

Keywords: port performance; secondary ports; port business; decision making techniques; maritime studies.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSTL.2018.093459

International Journal of Shipping and Transport Logistics, 2018 Vol.10 No.4, pp.468 - 496

Received: 24 Jan 2017
Accepted: 20 Jul 2017
Published online: 26 Jul 2018 *

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